Machine for digging up ground



May 3, 1932. v M. JAEGER MACHINE FOR DIGGING UP GROUND Filed March 4, 1930 [77 Ventur- Patented May 3, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MAX JAEGER, OF WESSELBUREN, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO HEDWIG OLGA SUSETTE KRl'lG-ER, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA MACHINE FOR DIGGING UP GROUND Application filed March 4, 1930, Serial No. 433,100, and in Germany March 8, 1927.

My invention refers to improvements in a machine for digging up ground from below the surface of the type described in my prior Patent 1,740,923 of December 24, 1929.

This invention is particularly applicable to the improvement of soil, or obtaining so1l for agricultural purposes, although obviously also applicable to other purposes.

In the machine referred to I have provided a pair of cooperating excavators ar ranged in series, the leading excavator handling the upper stratum or overburden which goes to waste, while the trailing excavator handles the valuable stratum below the overburden which it is desired to obtain.

It is an object of my invention to improve a machine of this kind and to this end I provide a single excavator having two rows of buckets and means at the lower end of the excavator for supplying the valuable mate rial from the lower stratum to one row of buckets, while the other row handles the overburden.

In a preferred embodiment of my invention I provide a vehicle, for instance a motor car, on the frame of which the boom of an excavator is fitted to rock. The excavator is equipped with two parallel rows of buckets, each with a chain of its own, or the buckets of the two rows are secured to opposite sides of a single chain. At the lower end of the excavator two helical conveyers of opposite pitch are secured which move the material of the valuable stratum towards the buckets of the conveyer and deliver it to one row of buckets only, preferably the inner row These buckets which are separated from the buckets of the other or outer row, raise the material of the valuable stratum and deliver it to a tube or the like, while the waste material of the overburden is returned to the trench.

With an excavator having two conveyors at either side for carrying the valuable material towards the buckets the effective width of the excavator with respect to the valuable material is a maximum, while its width with respect to the overburden is a minimum and equal only to the width of the buckets. In this manner the trench required is narrow as compared with the range of the conveyor, and moreover the trench is filled in with the overburden immediately in the wake of the machine.

Power is saved as compared with the machine described in my copending application, as only the buckets of the row which handles the overburden, are digging while the buckets of the other row merely serve for lifting the material supplied to them by the helical conveyers.

In the drawings affixed to this specification and forming part thereof a machine embodying my invention is illustrated diagrammatically by way of example.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the lower end of the excavator boom, with the two helical conveyors,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the lower sprocket for the excavator,

Fig. 3 is an elevation of one of the side frames of the boom,

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic elevation of an excavator having an outer and an inner bucket chain,

Fig. 5 is an elevation of an excavator having a single chain and mounted to rock on a frame of a motor car,

Fig. 6 is a rear-end elevation of the machine illustrated in Fig. 5.

' Figure 7 is a detail elevation of the bucket chain.

Referring to the drawings and first to Figs. 5 and 6, 10 is a motor car, the frame 11 of which is extended beyond its driving wheels 12, which may be provided with cleats as illustrated. Z) are trunnions on the frame which are secured to the sides of the boom frames 6, 6 of the excavator, so that the excavator is free to rock about the trunnions as indicated by the arrows at in Figs. 4 and 5. 13 is a sprocket shaft at the upper end of the boom, to which rotation is imparted from the engine of the motor car by suitable mechanism, for instance a chain 1 1, a sprocket or sprockets 15 on the trunnions or one of the trunnions b, and a chain or chains 16, which of a portion engage a sprocket or sprockets 17 on the shaft h 13. 18 is a bucket chain which is carried on the sprocket shaft 13 by means of sheaves 19 which may be hexagonal as shown, or of any other suitable shape, and which moves about sheaves 5, 5 of corresponding configuration on a shaft 20 at the lower end of the boom 6, 6. The bucket chain is equipped with inner buckets 3 and outer buckets 4. As the inner and outer buckets carry materials of different composition, they must be separated which is )referably accomplished by formingthe chain 18 with solid plate links shown in Figure 7. The solid links form a partition between the two rows of buckets. 1 and 2 are helical conveyers of opposite pitch arranged at either end of thelower part 20- for su-pplying the valuable material from the lower stratum B to the inner buckets 3. The material has access to the buckets through openings 21 in the boom frames 6 and through the spaces between the spokes of the sheaves 5, 5.

8, 8' are chutes for receiving the valuable material from the inner row of buckets 3 and for depositing it at one side of the trench, as shown in Fig. 6. 7 is a chute at the rear end of the frame which receives the overburden A and returns it to the trench.

In operation the motor car 10 is run to the digging station with the boom 6 in horizontal position. At the station the boom is lowered with the end, in which the shaft 20 is supported, onto the ground and rotation is imparted to the shaft 19. The outer buckets 4 now dig into the overburden A until finally the boom 6, 6 is in the vertical position, illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, with the helical conveyers at the bottom of the trench and within the valuable stratum B. The motor car is now start-ed and as it moves along, the buckets 4 of the outer row dig away the ground at the end of the trench, delivering the overburden to the chute 7 and returning it tothe trench in the wake of the machine, as shown in Fig. 5, while at the same time the helical conveyors 1 and 2 dig into the valuable stratum B and supply the valuable material to the buckets 3through the holes 21 in the frame 6 and through the spaces between the drums 5. This material is discharged to the chutes 8, 8 and deposited on one or both sides of the trench. In this manner a fi'ow of waste or overburden is set up at the leading edge of the excavation, while at the same time a flow of valuable material is set up within the excavation, the material being separated by the partitions or links of the chain 18, so that the valuable material from the stratum B is obtained in pure condition.

Referring now to Fig. 4, the shafts 13 and 20 are arranged asdescribed in connection with Figure 5, but each row of buckets 3and 4 is equipped with a chain of its own. The shaft 13 carries two sheaves 22 which are here shown as being circular, but obviously might be polygonal like the sheaves 5 and 19, and the shaft 20 carries a pair of come sponding sheaves 23 on which the chain 24 for the buckets 4 is supported. The chain 25 for the buckets 3 is supported on similar pairs of sheaves 26 and 27 on the shafts 13 and 20, respectively. In the present instance the buckets 3 are arranged on the outside of their chain 25 and the material which is supplied by the conveyers 1 and 2, must be so directed as to flow toward the outside of the chain, but obviously the buckets. 3; might be In the claims affixed. to this specification no selection of any particular modifiicati'onoi the invention is. intended to. the. exclusion of other modifications thereof and. the ri-ght to subsequently make claim to any modification not covered by these claims is. expressly re..- served.

I' claim 1. A machine for digging up. ground from below the surface. comprising an. excavator,

a chain operatively connected with. said excavator, a row of buckets on. the outer side of said. chain, a. row. of buckets on. the. inner side of said chain, means at the lower end of said excavator for. breaking up the material encountered by said; lower end and for conveying it. to the buckets, of sa i'dl inner row, and means on said chain for keeping separate the contents of the. buckets. in each row.

2. A machine for digging up. ground from below the surface comprising an. excavator, an outer and an inner chain. on; said excavator, a row of buckets on eachchain, means at the lower end of'said' excavator for. breaking up the material encountered by said lower end and. for conveying. it to the-buck;- ets of said inner chain, and means. fon keep: ing separate the contents of' the; buckets of each chain.

3. A machine'for digging up ground; from below the surface. comprising an. excavator having a boom with openings in. it's frame plates near its lowerendgashaft' supported'to rotate in the vicinity of said. openings, an

open. sheave on said. shatt',; a. chain. 0.11. said sheave, buckets on said chain, means on. said shaft for breaking up the. material encountered by the lower endofsai'dfexcavator, and for conveying it to said buckets and. a'row of buckets on sai'dexcavatorjwhicli areseparated from saidfirst' mentioned buckets, and arranged outside of saidfirstlmentionedbucln ets.

4. A machinefor diggingup groundfrom belowfthe surface comprising a frame, an excavator boom, trunnions on said frame, a row of digging buckets on the leading edge of said excavator, a row of conveying buckets within said excavator, means at the lower end of said excavator for breaking up the material encountered by said lower end and for conveying it to said conveying buckets, said... means being wider than said digging buckets, means for keeping separate the contents of said digging and conveying buckets, and means on said frame for discharging separately the contents of said digging and conveying buckets, and for returning to the trench made by same excavator the contents of said digging buckets.

5. A machine for digging up ground from below the surface comprising an excavator, a chain operatively connected with said excavator, a row of buckets arranged outwardly of said chain, a row of buckets arranged inwardly of said chain, and means at the lower end of said excavator for breaking up the material encountered by said lower end of said conveyor and for conveying it to the buckets of said inner row.

6. A machine for digging up ground from below the surface comprising an excavator, an inner chain operatively connected with said excavator and having a row of buckets thereon, a second chain arranged around and spaced from said first named chain, and having a row of buckets thereon, and means for breaking up the material encountered by the lower end of said conveyor and conveying it to the buckets of the inner chain.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

MAX JAEGER. 

